Kids
thumb|link=Kids & Cartoon All-Stars For Character Double Feature (Kids for Character and Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue) are the program that was released on VHS in 1996. It was a charity special about moral character that featured many different children's characters. It was produced by The Character Counts! Coalition and was distributed by Lyrick Studios, and an American animated drug prevention television special starring many of the popular cartoon characters from American weekday, Sunday morning and Saturday morning television at the time of this film's release. Financed by McDonald's, the special was originally simulcast on April 21, 1990 on all three major American television networks (by supporting their Saturday morning characters): ABC, NBC, and CBS, and most independent stations, as well as cable networks Nickelodeon and USA Network. McDonald's also distributed a VHS home video edition of the special, produced by Buena Vista Home Video, which opened with an introduction from President George H. W. Bush, and First Lady Barbara Bush. The show was produced by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation and Southern Star Productions, and was animated overseas by Wang Film Productions Co., Ltd. Synopsis The plot chronicles the exploits of Michael, a teenager who is using marijuana and stealing his father's beer. His younger sister, Corey, is worried about him because he started acting differently. When her piggy bank goes missing, her cartoon tie-in toys come to life to help her find it. After discovering it in Michael's room along with his stash of drugs, the various cartoon characters proceed to work together and take him on a fantasy journey to teach him the risks and consequences a life of drug-use can bring and save the world. Each of the six shows represented a different "pillar" of character (trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship): *''The Puzzle Place'' - Julie recaps the episode Finder's Keepers *''Barney & Friends'' - In this skit created for this video, Barney as well as Min, Shawn, and Tosha teach Baby Bop about respect through song with Barney Music Videos. *''The Magic School Bus'' - The episode Wet All Over is used to teach responsibility *''Lamb Chop's Play-Along!'' - Lamb Chop and Shari Lewis talk about the time when she had to split jelly beans between Lamb Chop and Charlie Horse in a lesson on fairness. *''Gullah Gullah Island'' - The episode The Binyah Binyah Pollywog Show to show the importance of caring *''Babar'' - The episode Babar's Triumph is used to reinforce the importance of citizenship In Corey's bedroom, an unseen person steals her piggy bank from her dresser. The theft is witnessed by Papa Smurf, who emerges from a Smurfs comic book with the other Smurfs and alerts the other cartoon characters in the room (Garfield as a lamp, Alf from a framed picture, Baby Kermit as an alarm clock, Winnie-the-Pooh as a doll, Alvin and the Chipmunks from a record sleeve, and Slimer who passes through a wall). The cartoon characters track down the thief and discover that it is Corey's big brother, Michael. Simon opens a box under Michael's bed and identifies its contents as marijuana. Meanwhile, Corey expresses her concerns about Michael's change in behavior. He storms out of the house. The cartoon characters quickly realize that something must be done about his addiction and they set off, leaving Pooh behind to look after Corey. At the arcade, Michael smokes pot with his old "friends" and "Smoke," an anthropomorphic cloud of smoke with a mafioso-like appearance and personality. Afterward, one of the teens shows the group a drug that appears to be Crack, just then what appears to be the cops show up. Upon being discovered, they run out and are chased into an alleyway by a policeman. Smoke disappears through the wall, telling Michael that, "at times like this, he's on his own". The "policeman" is then revealed to be Bugs Bunny wearing a policeman's hat. Bugs traps Smoke in a garbage can and uses a time machine (which he borrowed from "some coyote") to see when and how Michael's addiction was started. It was discovered that rather than wanting to get started on drugs, he was bullied into doing it by his "friends". Back at the house, Michael's father notes that two of his beers are missing, but is convinced by Michael's mother that he drank them the night before while watching football (the implication is that Michael actually stole them, unknown to both his parents). Meanwhile, his mother expresses her concerns about him to Corey and asks her if there is anything wrong, to which she replies no. Pooh comes to life soon after, and asks why she didn't tell her mother about Michael. She explains that if she tells and Michael gets in trouble, she will be the first one he will suspect. Pooh admits that may happen, but asks her to think about what will happen to Michael if she doesn't tell. She tries to explain things to her father, but is unsuccessful. In the park, one of Michael's "friends" says that she can buy crack cocaine for ten dollars. He is uncertain of this, but Smoke steals his wallet and tosses it to the girl, who runs off with it down an alleyway. Michael gives chase, but falls down a manhole with Smoke. There, they are greeted by Michelangelo, Baby Kermit, Baby Piggy and Baby Gonzo. The Muppet Babies take Michael on a roller-coaster ride through a drug-inflicted human brain. When the ride is over, Michael realizes that the brain they just toured is his and that they are currently inside him. He is also about to fall off a skateboard. The Babies escape, but Michael and Smoke are left behind. Michael wakes up at the feet of Huey, Dewey, and Louie who, with the other characters (joined by Tigger), teach him Wonderful Ways to Say No, through a song. Michael wakes up in his own bedroom and thinks the whole experience never happened. At that moment, Corey comes into the room and tells him that Pooh wants to know why he never talks to their parents anymore. He tells her to tell Pooh to mind his own business and kicks her out of the room. Corey runs off in tears, and Michael regrets his behavior. However, Smoke comes out from under the bed and claims that he did the right thing. Michael points out that Corey is his little sister and that he doesn't know what's right anymore. As he stares into a mirror inside his marijuana box, his reflection is replaced with Alf's, who pulls him through the box into a hall of mirrors. Smoke tries to follow but is left behind. Inside the Hall of Mirrors, Alf shows Michael his reflection of how he is today, then his reflection if he doesn't stop taking drugs: an aged, corpse-like version of himself. When Michael insists that he could quit if he wants to and that he is in charge of his own life, Alf takes him to see 'The Man in Charge' — Smoke. Corey and Pooh re-enter Michael's room and find his marijuana box. Smoke appears and tempts her to try the drug. When Pooh tries to persuade her otherwise, he is thrown into a cabinet by Smoke. Corey reasons that if she does what Michael does, then maybe they could have fun together, like they used to before he started doing drugs. Michael comes to a fortune-telling tent and asks the stall tender (Daffy Duck) to see his future for him. It turns out to be Michael lying on his death bed, his face even more ravaged than when Alf showed it to him. He is horrified by the prospect of that being his future, but Daffy tells him that it can be avoided if he stops taking drugs. Michael runs out of a nearby door back into his bedroom, just in time to stop Corey from using the drugs herself. He tells her that he never wants to see her end up like him, and admits he was wrong, though he is unsure if he can change. She advises him to talk about his problems to their parents and to her. Smoke tries to persuade him otherwise, but Michael throws him out of the window, as he feels that he "listened to him long enough". As he lands in a dump truck, Smoke vows to return. Michael sadly admits that Smoke is right, and that he will try to return. Corey agrees but says that "when he gets here, we'll be ready for him," to which the cartoon stars add a resounding agreement. The special ends with Michael and Corey going to tell their parents about his drug problem, while Pooh jumps into a poster on the wall with the other cartoon characters. Cast *Tom Selleck as Guest Star *Jason Marsden - Michael *Lindsay Parker - Corey *Townsend Coleman - Dad, Michaelangelo *Laurie O'Brien - Mom, Baby Piggy *Joey Dedio - The Dealer *George C. Scott - Smoke *Jeff Bergman - Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck *Don Messick - Papa Smurf *Frank Welker - Slimer, Hefty Smurf, Baby Kermit *Lorenzo Music - Garfield *Danny Goldman - Brainy Smurf *Russi Taylor - Baby Gonzo, Huey, Dewey, and Louie *Jim Cummings - Winnie-the-Pooh, Tigger *Ross Bagdasarian - Alvin, Simon *Janice Karman - Theodore *Paul Fusco - Alf *Wayne Collins, Aaron Lohr, Georgie Irene, Angella Kaye - Additional Voices *Alice Dinnean-Vernon as Julie Woo, voice by Dionne Quann *Noel MacNeal as Leon MacNeal, voice by Alanna Ubach *Brian Drummond as Barney (voice only) *Jaclyn Linetsky as Baby Bop (before her death; voice only) *Andrew Sabiston as BJ (voice only) *Lily Tomlin as Ms. Frizzle (voice only) *Shary A. Lewis as Lamb Chop (voice only) *Philip Garcia as Binyah Binyah *Gord Pinsent as King Babar (voice only) *Joe Maggard as Ronald McDonald *Lorenzo Music as Garfield the Cat (voice only) *Plus Many More! Paul Fusco and Angella Kaye were both uncredited. Category:1996 films Category:New releases Category:US new releases by date Category:New releases by region Category:Character Count Category:Videos Category:1990 television films Category:1990 films Category:1990 animated films Category:1990 television specials Category:1990s American television specials Category:American social guidance and drug education films Category:Animated films based on comics Category:Animated television specials Category:Crossover animation Category:Crossover films Category:Disney television specials Category:Films about drugs Category:American Broadcasting Company television specials Category:CBS television specials Category:Fox television specials Category:NBC television specials Category:American animated television programs featuring anthropomorphic characters Category:Simulcasts Category:Television programs about drugs Category:Winnie-the-Pooh films